


We can be Heroes (Me and You)

by olivemartini



Series: Miscalleneous Newt/Tina [6]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-27
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-09-20 04:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9475433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: Newt really should have been in Gryffindor.Not that he doesn't belong in Huffleuff, because loyal is a great word to describe him as well, but still, Tina can't help but think that he's the bravest man she'll ever have the pleasure of meeting, even if he is ridiculous sometimes.





	

"You should have been in Gryffindor."

These words were passed across the table to Newt, who was hunched over and holding a now bloody rag to the back of his head.  He looked up sharply, a motion that must have hurt, but Tina didn't see him wince.  (She entertains the notion that after all the times he's gotten hurt caring for his creatures that he's just become immune to the pain, then discards the thought. He's just tough.)  "I like being in Hufflepuff."

"I know."  Tina does know that, and understands the love he has for his old school.  She doesn't understand why, considering most everything from his few years there sounded horrid, but she supposes it's just in his nature to be like that.  Loyal, a Hufflepuff through and through.  "I just meant you're incredibly brave, that's all."

He was brave, one of the bravest men she had ever met.  Over the past few months she had watched him hurl himself into danger without a thought about how badly he would get hurt, no matter how dangerous the situation.  It could be for anyone, a beast or a stranger or, as had happened a few times, Tina herself.  Knowing that he would do this doesn't make it any easier to watch, her heart clawing it's way into her throat as she fights to get to him, helpless as the scene enfolds in front of her.   She's watched him be beaten and broken and knocked down, cut by the claws of the beast he was rescuing or hit by a particularly nasty spell by the men Tina was supposed to be fighting.  Or, as it had happened this time, knocking a little girl out of the way of a carriage, giving himself a rather nasty bump on her head. 

(Sometimes, Tina closes her eyes and has visions of how all these times could have gone differently.  A day where Newt isn't so lucky and the evil men catch him off gaurd, or a creature isn't as gentle as he thought it would be.  But tonight, all she can picture is the strangled gasp she made when she saw the girl and how she couldn't get to her wand fast enough, and then there was Newt, dashing out and scooping her up in his arm not a second too soon, the tail end of his coat brushed by the first horse.  And then he was on the pavement with blood gushing from his head, and the girl was crying for her mother, but at least she was alive.)

(And so was Newt, so was Newt thank god, the fool didn't remember he had magic, but it was alright because everything works out in the end and he was sill here, sitting across from her.)

"It's not bravery.  I was just doing the right thing."  He shrugged, and this time he did wince.  "You would have done the same."

"You're a hero, Newt Scamander."  She could barely make out his face with the way the candlelight was throwing shadows across it, but she could tell that he didn't believe her.  He shouldn't have looked good, sitting over there with his rumpled clothes and matted hair, but he did, not that he would know how handsome she looked.  Tina wished there could someday be  a time when she could make him believe all the good things he doesn't see in himself.  

"You're supposed to help people who can't help themselves."  It is just another example of what makes him good and loyal, and yes, heroic, because only a man who lowers himself to raise others up can say something like that and mean it.  Only a man who is truly going to change the way the world works would be able to save a child from a horrible demise and think,  _oh yes, all in a days work, now lets go home and feed all the pets in my own personal Noah's ark_.  

"Hmm."  She gets up and moves to stand behind him, taking the rag from his hand and replacing it with a fresh one.  He's gotten better at letting her take care of him since he got sick.  He's no longer trying to repay every scrap of kindness that she's given him, like he's in debt and she's keeping score.  It's a relief, because Tina does not know how to let him know how much she cares for him in words, only through actions, so she spend her time doing things like this- washing the blood from his face and rinsing out his hair, letting him lean on her as he struggles to stand up, vowing that just for tonight she and Pickett would be able to handle the feeding schedule, so he can just go to bed.  He sleeps in the guest room instead of the suitcase now, even though he's protested about how rude and improper it is for him to be in her apartment at all, but she hushed him up very quickly with the arguement that over here in America people are much more progressive.  

They make it to the bed, and he collapses with such force that she's afraid he opened up his head wound again.  It is dark, but they still meet each other's eyes.  This is a new thing, too, the fact that he can look at her without his eyes darting around the room.  It's a strange thing for her as well, allowing herself to study him as much as she wants, drinking in the sight of him until she manages to have it memorized.  "I'm not trying to be difficult."  His voice is quiet.  He's always quiet, this small, fragile thing that is causing such an upset in this huge, horrible world.  "I just don't do these things to get thank you's."

"Heroes normally don't." She runs her hand through his hair, smoothing it down, and she feels him lean into his touch.   _Improper,_ a voice in her says, but there is a something stronger drowning it out, saying  _yes, yes, we can be happy if we do things like this for the rest of our lives, anything, as long as it's with him._ It worries her, but she files the feeling away to analyze at a later time.

"You've done plenty of brave things too, Tina."  

It is the one of the nicest things he has said to her, which is a hard thing to judge, because he hands out compliments as frequently as he breathes.  

"Then we can be heroes together."

 


End file.
